Channel 4 reveals why it snubbed Birmingham

CHANNEL 4 bosses have revealed the real reason Birmingham lost out to Leeds in the bid to host the broadcaster’s new headquarters.

As a political blame game rolls on, the media giant said it chose the Yorkshire city for its better access to production centres across the north of England and Scotland.

Channel chiefs also claimed Leeds’ independent media centre was larger than Birmingham’s.

West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who spearheaded the region’s £282,000 campaign, revealed the feedback he had received directly from Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon, who offered consolation that Birmingham ‘obviously’ could have hosted their operations ‘very successfully’.

Mayor Street spoke to a gathering of more than 50 people who had been involved in the bid at Digbeth’s Fazeley Studios, declaring he owed them a ‘straight answer’.

He again expressed his disappointment over the failed three-year campaign and added that he still believes Birmingham’s bid met Channel 4’s criteria better than the others.

The mayor also fired a shot at the BBC, stating the corporation should be moved “right back into our crosshairs” with only 1.9 per cent of its output coming from the Midlands since it left Pebble Mill studios more than a decade ago. “Whether it’s the BBC or Channel 4, 12 million people across the Midlands are now not represented as they should be on mainstream TV,” he said.

But the Conservative mayor did not descend into the political blame game which has unfolded since the announcement, notably in the form of the Labour leader of Birmingham City Council, Ian Ward, who had demanded Mr Street provide answers.

Instead, he thanked Councillor Ward, Birmingham City Council – including chief executive Dawn Baxendale who was in attendance – along with all other parties who contributed to the campaign. Then he looked to the future.

“We know we are brilliant at digital in this region,” he said. “We’ve got to think about where is the further frontier.

“What do we do with Netflix? What do we do with Amazon? What do we do with international broadcasters?

“We have got to think what we are going to do to support independent producers even more.

“We know if we are really honest, that the best cities in the world – and I’m not talking about Leeds and Manchester, I’m probably talking about Toronto, a brilliant city in this sector – they for 20 years have supported their independent sector, with business support, financing, permission to film, all of those things. We do need to think about that.”

The former John Lewis boss added: “We can move forward in a very different way. The message I want to take away is, okay it is a setback, it’s not what I wanted or you wanted, but this place will come through it.

“Sometimes it’s the setbacks in life that make you think more about what you have got to do.

“I learned that in business. Some of my toughest times were actually my best times to think really hard.”